future going to be in a more debt and a more regulation and more taxes? no. or is our future going to be in a less taxes, less regulation and more freedom? [applause] i believe in mitt romney. i think he is the right candidate at in the state of florida we have 820,000 people out of work. people have given up looking for work. we need somebody in the white house who understands how jobs are created. it is not government that creates jobs. this individual to create jobs. when mitt romney is president he is going to need another united

states senator, republican senator from florida. [applause] how many here have already voted? [applause] and for those of you who wake up tomorrow morning and go vote. after you vote for mitt romney go down the ballot a little more and vote for connie mack. can you do that? there are dig differences between senator nelson and myself. he was the deciding vote for obamacare. i voted against obamacare. [applause] senator nelson has voted for higher taxes 272 times. i voted to cut taxes.

[applause] senator nelson voted to gut our military. i voted to strengthen our 34il8 tear. military [applause] a couple of things happen when i beat senator nelson. the second thing that happens is harry reid will no longer control the agenda. [applause] so florida, we're counting on you, we're counting on you to get out there and vote for mitt romney. i'm counting on you to go out

and vote for me. together we'll make sure that mitt romney is the next president, that i'm the next senator, we'll get this country moving again. we'll go in the right direction. we'll put people first over government any day of the week, right? i have the honor tonight to introduce someone to you that you know very well. someone who has been a great leader for the state of florida as governor of the state of florida. [applause] and he continues to be a great leader for america. ladies and gentlemen, jeb bush [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much.

thank you so much. connie mack is going to be a great united states senator just like his dad was. work hard for him the next six days. i know in jacksonville you have the curvature effect which means hurricanes never come here. but you love this state and you're from florida and you recall how we suffered through eight hurricanes and four tropical storms. and we came together and depended on the american red cross and churches all around the country and world, people came to florida in our time of 23450ed. we had over a million homes that were completely destroyed. we had people that were one paycheck away from having a problem before the storms and then got into serious problems. and guess what? the american spirit was alive and well.

people helped take care of their families and friends and came from all over and provided support. now it's our turn to show the generosity of the american spirit. it's time to pay back those who live in new york and new jersey and connecticut and all across the northeast. and by the way, the next time you see a first responder that we take for granted, a firearm, a police officer, someone who has been working in emergency response in one of the counties around here. give them a big hug and say thank you because without them we'd be in much worse shape. so now on to the main event. i am so excited to be here in support of mitt romney. who will be a person of great integrity, great courage.

a conservative that will get things done instead of the yapping that goes on in washington d.c. right now. [applause] our country has huge problems, structural problems that require people that actually want to solve problems rather than just talk about it or excuse the way why it is that things are working. you know, president obama was dealt a tough hand. we hear this everyday if you watch tv. and of course it's my brother's fault for everything that goes on. dog almost as though the ate my homework is the reason we're going through tough times. but let me tell you mitt romney from day one, job one will be to restore the american economy so people can purr shoe their dreams as they see fit by limited government and build

capacity so people don't have to get in line and be dependent upon government. no one wants to do that. we want a society where the next generation has more opportunities than what we have. and the american dream is what this election is about. are we going to reverse the track we're on which is a false sense of economic security where we get in line and have the government solve our problems for us? inif that's ever worked american history. or are we going to restore american greatness the way we know it works best to create jobs in a strategic way with a guy as president that will work to build solutions rather than just talking about things? i was governor of this state for eight years and i had to work with a lot of democrats but i had to work with a lot of republicans as well because they were in the majority the

whole time. imagine what it would be like to be a governor of a state where 85% of the legislature was in a different party. it would require leadership that had humility at the start that would focus on ways to solve problems. that's what we need in our country right now. a guy who has been about finding common ground and solutions, not abandoning principle. imagine a country that began to solve it's problems. we need a president who is willing to roll up his sleeves to begin to solve these problems and american greatness will surge immediately. here is the deal. just about everybody raced their hand saying they've already voted. but i bet you know ten people

who haven't. find four in your case, everybody else find ten people that haven't voted and convince them to make sure they vote early or vote on election day. and if you get them really jazzed up convince them to find ten people. if you do that we will have florida in the winning column for mitt romney and mitt romney will be the next president of the united states. [applause] so with that i hope you give our next speaker a spectacular welcome, ladies and gentlemen the next president of the united states mitt romney. [applause]

♪ ♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you. you know with help like that -- [applause]

you know with energy like that, i think we're going to win florida, don't you? [applause] now i want to thank governor jeb bush. what a great leader you have in governor bush. i want to thank congressman connie mack for getting into this race and he's going to surprise a lot of people and win next tuesday night. thank you john for entertaining and supporting and for helping so many people come together to make contributions to the red cross. i know senator john thrasher is here somewhere. he's somewhere. and congressman crenshaw is here.

thank you -- there they are down in the corner. thank you. they are good men and appreciate their help tonight. [applause] we're excited tonight because we know that we're getting closer to a big change in this country, a real change. [applause] we also have full hearts because we know our fellow americans are struggling through some real tough times with the hurricane that hit the atlantic coast and i want to underscore if you have the ability to help out, please provide some resources there and give calls to your loved ones and keep them in your thoughts and prayers. we help each other as americans

and that help is needed now. so thank you florida for your help. [applause] now i think people are coming together in another way right now and that is people recognize this is an extraordinary opportunity for america that we face great challenges but there are great opportunities as well. and i think you are going to find the american people voting for real change on november 6. [applause] and you know we talk about the challenges but i hope you understand just how real they are because there are 23 million americans tonight, 23 million americans that are struggling to find a good job. there are one out of six americans living in poverty, 47 million americans are on food stamps. we have 50% of college garage

watts, think of this in america 50% of kids coming out of college can't find college level work. these are real challenges here. we face challenges from china. i have to tell you good things are going to happen in america. i understand what it takes to get this country going again. [applause] you see i actually have a plan for getting america back and to strengthen our foundation and my plan creates some 12 mm jobs and that by the way creates more take home pay which people badly need. you know what it's been like. i just had a telephone call with a lot of people in nevada. we were talking about challenges there and their home

values are down and people are having a hard time making ends meet. the median income in america has dropped over $4,000 in the last four years. they are earning less than four years ago. the same time cost of gasoline has gone up $2,000 a family, health insurance premiums are up, groceries are up. these are tough times for america. so my plan to create 12 million jobs is needed and needed now. it has five parts which number one we're going to take full advantage of our energy, our oil, our coal, our gas. [applause] and that creates a lot of jobs. not just in the energy sector but in places that use energy, manufacturing for instance uses a lot of energy in many cases

and by having low cost energy and we have it and will continue to have it if we take advantage of these resources. seere going to manufacturing come back to this country. this is big for our country. that's number one. number two, it's a very helpful thing if a nation has the most productivity in the world and we do. i used to here the word productivity. they look at everything a country makes, all the services they sell add it up and divide it by the number of people in the work force. that's out put per person. and we are the most productive major nation in the world. and because we're so productive, tread helps us. as we open up doors for tread we can sell goods and services to other places in the world.

and i want to open up trade with latin america where we have a real advantage. i want to make sure people we trade with follow the rules. china hasn't always fold the rules. i'll stop them if they participate in unfair trade practices. so number one energy, and number two trade. number three is making sure the people have the skills they need and that our schools are giving our kids the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow. now your governor here knows something about that. he's the national leader in education and he did some things i've copied in my plan for the nation. number one he makes sure schools are evaluated so you know how well a school is doing. they get graded. he makes sure the parents are

able to send a child to a school of their choice. i'm going to take federal dollars and instead of giving them to the schools i'm going to have them follow the student so parents can choose the school. [applause] amber four doesn't sound to lot of people like it has a lot to do with jobs but it does. it relates to debt and deficits which and that is if you're an entrepreneur thinking of risking your live ever life savings to start a business or build a factory, if you think america is on the road to greece or italy or spain, you're less likely to invest in america. and right now we spend a trillion more than we take in. it's bad for the economy.

tohink it's immoral for us pass on debt like that to our kids and i will get america on track to a balanced budget. [applause] and number five, is to be a champion of small business, help small business grow and thrive. by the way, i didn't study small business alone. i've lived small business. i know how business works and i want to use that experience and that skill to help small businesses across the country. and there are a lot of ways to do that. let me mention just a couple. one relates to our taxes. do you realize that the taxes paid by a small business in america can be as high as 35%, that's the income tax and then if you add other taxes t payroll tax, the state income tax if you have one, real estate tax, sales tax, well you can

find small businesses spending as much as 50% of what they earn on government, on taxes. and as a result of that you have a lot of people saying why would i start a business if i'm lucky enough to have it successful the government is going to take half of what i make back. canada has lowered their corporate tax rate to 15%. ours is 35. they've lowered to 15, why? not because they want less money. they know if businesses grow and thrive there they will get more money. so that's how it works. so i want to bring our tax rates down to help small businesses and make it easier for people to start them. i want to make sure we understand how to make regulations work for small

business. by the way some people in our party say we want to deregulate. that's an overstatement. we want to get rid of excessive regulation. we know you have to have some to make our economy work. but sometimes regulators look at businesses like they're the enemy. and i have small businesses tell me i feel like government is battling me. i like small business. i want to make sure we help them grow and make it easier for them to expand. [applause] by the way, to create those 12 million jobs and get us on track to a balanced budget, those are words i offer easily, that's going to take some real work. to get that done, it's going to require something in washington

that's spoken about but not done and i have to do it. i have to reach across the aisle and get good democrats and good republicans to work together. [applause] good democrats love america just like good republicans love america. i happen to be in a state that has a few democrats, massachusetts. i legislature was about 85% democrat. and to get anything done at all and have my veto upheld i had to have people across the aisle i could work with. when i came in office we had a multibillion budget gap, we actually sat down every week, got to know each other. every week we net one of our offices and talked about the challenges we faced and looked

for common ground. we often count come together but often we found common ground. we found a way to slow down the rate of growth in our state and cut spending in our state. we cut taxes 19 times and made our state more business friendly and by the end of four years instead of a $3 billion budget gap we had a $2 billion fund. it's got to happen. i want you to know that i'm optimistic. i'm convinced that the future is brighter than the past. i don't believe our kids are going to have tougher times than we did. i believe they're going to have brighter times. i believe kids coming out of college are going to find work again. i believe someone in their 40's or fifties ought to have a chance to put money away. our seniors ought to be confident their retirement is

secure and healthcare is secure. these things will happen again. and i'm convinced of that because i've seen the heart of the american people over my lifetime. optimisticative and and hardworking. i also see a willingness to live for something bigger than ourself. i was a leader in the boy scouts of america some years ago. and i was at a court of honor, that's where the boy scouts get their eagle scout awards or other awards and there was a table at the front of the room and i was seated at the end of the table next to the american flag. and the person that was speaking was the scout master from colorado. and he said the boys wanted to have a special flag. so they bought one. they sent it to be flown above

the capital. then when it came home the boys said let's have it go on the space shuttle. that will make it more special. they contacted nasa and nasa agreed. they said the boys were so proud as they watched the challenger go up in the sky and they saw it explode before their eyes. the scout master called nasa and said have you found any remnant of our flag and they hadn't. he called week after week and move after month and still nothing. and one day he was reading an article in the paper about some of the debris that had been found from the challenger disaster. and in that article there was a mention of a flag. so he called nasa and said have you found something you can give to us. and they said we'd like to make a presentation to your boys. so nasa came together with colorado and presented the boys

with a plastic container and they opened it up and there was their flag in perfect condition. [applause] and he said that's the flag on the flag pole here next to mr. romney. and i reached over and grabbed the flag and pulled it out and the was as if electricity was running through my arm because i thought about the people who lost their lives and they walked in danger's way for learning, for something bigger than themselves, for us. i think of our men and women in uniform and their willing tons walk in harm's way for us, for freedom. [applause]

i have a favorite verse in one of our 2345rb8 hems, america the beautiful. in that hem him we talk about the mountains majesty and all the characters of our land but there is a verse that touches me more deeply that says heroes proved in liberating strife who more than self-their country love and mercy more than life. what our veterans and members of the armed forces raise your hand so we can recognize you? [applause] thank you. it is part of the american national character to live for things bigger than yourself. some do that in extraordinary

ways, invisible ways, other do it in meaningful ways in their lives and family's life. my sister is a hero to me. my sister lynn has eight children, seven of them are married with children of their own t. 8th child was born down syndrome. inn is in her 70's and jeff have down syndrome man now is 43 years old. and lynn has devoted her life since her husband has been passed away and before to caring for jeffrey. she's a hero to me as are so many moms and dads who devote themselves to their kids. [applause] i think of all the single moms

across the country in tough economic times like right there who are scrimping and saving in many cases to be able to put a good meal on the table at the end of the day for their children. think of the moms and dads who are working one night shift and one day shift and hardly get any time together but are doing it to be able to buy the kids the clothes the other kids have at school so they don't stand out. how about all the moms and dads who agreed not to exchange gifts with each other because they want to have a better christmas for their kids. we're a generous people. this is a time when the people of america are going to come together.

i'm convinced november 7 will be a time we have leadership that will bring us together once again. i saw a tv show some years ago with a fictional football team in the show it's called friday night lights. you may have seen it. and in the show the football team would leave the locker room typically facing long odds from a team ranked higher than they. and they'd leave the locker room and there was assign that said clear eyes, fall hearts can't lose. i'm confident the people of florida have very clear eyes. you understand what is at stake in this election. i know you have full hearts and on november 6 we can't lose. we're going to get america back. this is our time, this is your time. let's take back america and

keep it the hope of the earth. thank you so very much. you guys are grate. [applause] ♪ ["i was born free" plays] ♪ ♪

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>> we will have "wrote to the white house" coverage at two romney campaign events today. cover -- coverage begins at noon eastern. at 2:15, mitt romney will be campaigning in virginia. new jersey suffered some of the worst damage from hurricane sandy. yesterday, president obama visit the state with governor chris christie and spoke about the federal government's in response to the disaster. this is 15 minutes.

>> how are you, sir? what is your name? you have not gotten much sleep, have you? appreciate it. how're you? are you ok? we are going to help you. i promise. it is going to be ok. you are safe. that is the most important thing. i have my guide, craig fugate.

i want to make sure she knows the week immediately give her the help she needs. how long have you left your? >> since 1996. we will get you some help. i promise. we have to prioritize. we want to make sure power is back on. make sure the streets are clear and the debris is gone. that is just one lot. we want to make sure small businesses are up and running.

he is from florida. he is used to hurricanes. >> the governor asked the president to declare disaster. we make sure there are teams coming down here. i know there is a lot of agriculture here. i do not want to have you go to a lot of different outfits to find help. we will deal with some of the challenges. >> craig and i were in joplin, missouri. there was a tornado.

this is something we know we can recover from. >> thank you. >> governor, thank you. >> good to see you. appreciate you. appreciated. -- appreciate it. where am i going? over here? >> good afternoon, everybody. i want to think the members who are here. i want to thank the president. we spent a significant afternoon together surveying the damage.

we wanted to show the president that personally. we have the opportunity to discuss it. and over to the shelter and meet with folks and have them see the president and his concern all of us have for making sure that things get back to normal as quickly as possible. we have a lot of challenges. things we need to do to make sure we get power restored as quickly as possible, that people have clean water, hospitals are taking care of things they need to when we get kids back to school. i discussed all those issues with the president and i am pleased to report he has sprung into action immediately to give us those things while we were in a car together. i want to thank him for that. he has worked with me since before the storm. this is our sixth conversation since the weekend. it has been a great working

relationship to make sure we are doing the job people asked us to do. i cannot think him enough for his personal concern and compassion for our state and the people of our state. i was able to witness it personally. we are doing what we need to do coordinating with fema. i want to thank mr. fugate. we will move on from here. what i said yesterday i really mean. there is going to be soro, you -- sorrow, and you see that. the president has seen that today. that is appropriate. we have suffered from loss. we have not suffered that much a loss of life and we thank god for that. we have suffered losses. this is the worst storm i have seen in my lifetime in the state but we cannot permit that sorrow to replace the resilience we have. we will get up and we will get

this thing rebuilt and we'll get things back together because that is what the state is all about. for all of you who are here, and i met a bunch of you today who disregarded my admonition, at to get the hell out of here, you are forgiven this time. but not for much longer. when all of you look around and you see the destruction, all that stuff can be replaced. you look to your right and left, to your husband, your wife, those are the things that cannot be replaced. i am glad we do not have that kind of loss of life. thank you for bringing -- being here today. it is my honor to introduce you to the president of the united states. >> thank you, everybody. let me make sure i acknowledge the folks who are here because they have played an important role in this. first of all, your congressional delegation,

senator bob menendez, congressman frank, atlantic county executive dennis levenson, and the brigantine mayor. obviously this is a federal, state, and local efforts. the first thing i want to do is thank everybody who has been involved in the rescue and recovery process. at the top of my list, i have to say governor christie, throughout the process, has been responsive, he has been aggressive in making sure the state got out in front of this incredible storm and i think the people of new jersey recognize he has put his heart and soul in making sure the people of new jersey bounce back even stronger than before. i want to thank him for his

leadership and partnership. i want to thank the congressional delegation because part of the reason we are able to respond quickly is because they help make sure fema financing was in place. we are appreciative of those efforts. i want to thank craig fugate. sometimes people think fema, not the people behind it but craig lives and breathes this stuff, may shrink -- making sure we're providing help. i want to thank all of the personal responders who have been involved in this process, the firefighters, the folks who are in here shuttling out people who were supposed to get the hell out and did not. you have helped save a lot of lives and property. one thing you learn in these tragedies is the first responders, i keep in all -- keep in mind in their homes are

under water and yet they make those personal sacrifices to help other people. we appreciate that. i'm going to make a couple of comments. number one, our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. it is true that because of preparation, the loss of life was kept lower than it might have been. for those individual families, obviously their world has been torn apart. we need to make sure that everybody who has lost a loved one knows they are in our thoughts and prayers. four of those like the people i had a chance to meet throughout new jersey and the region, whose lives have been up ended, my second message is, we are here

for you. we will not forget, we will make sure you get all the help you need until you have rebuilt. at this point, our focus is on the states of the new jersey, which got hit harder than anybody. the state of new york, particularly lower manhattan. we are concerned about connecticut as well and we are still monitoring west virginia where there are heavy snows in inaccessible areas. for the most part, those four states are bearing the brunt of this incredible storm. what we have been able to do is stage commodities, water, power generators, ambulances in some cases, food, medical supplies, emergency supplies, and we have over 2000 fema personnel on the

ground right now. their job, now that we are moving out of search and rescue is make sure they are talking to individual communities so people know exactly how they can get the help they need. we expedited our emergency declarations for the state of new jersey and local counties that have been affected. that means the people can immediately start registering for emergency assistance. one of the things i want to emphasize to the people of new jersey and the region, now that you are safe, your family is safe, you are trying to figure

out where you're going to stay the next couple of days, it is important you know there is help available to you right now. for example, to find rental housing or pay for groceries. we saw a young woman who had a newborn, probably in eight- month old that needs diapers and formula. those are the kind of supplies and help we can provide. if you call 800-621-fema, or disasterasistance.gov, if you have access to the internet, you can register right now so that you can immediately start receiving help. we want to make sure everything you need. a couple of final points, obviously our biggest priority is getting power turned back on. we are pleased newark got power. jersey city is getting power today. there are still in chunks of the community, including this community right here, that do not have power. it is hard enough cleaning up

debris and dealing with boats that have been appended and -- upended roads that are blocked. when people do not have power, they are disabled in all sorts of ways and it is hard to get back to normal. yesterday i had a chance to speak to the ceos of the utilities from all across the country. a lot of the states that were spare, that were not hard hit, or some as far away as california, they have pledged to start getting equipment, cruise, etc. come into new jersey -- crews, etc., into new jersey. we were able to get c-17's, c- 130's, military transport planes potentially to move assets, personnel, to speed up the process of getting power up and running as soon as possible. our first priority is water filtration plants and some

other critical infrastructure. for that, we have emergency generators. we have a navy ship that has helicopters that can move assets around the state as well. we are going to be working with local officials to identify those critical infrastructure and how we can get what is needed as quickly as possible. a couple of other things we are concerned about, as power starts coming back on, we want to make sure people can also get to work. a lot folks in jersey work in new york come in the city, and in other places where transportation may be hobbled. one of the things i mentioned is the possibility of us using federal assets, and military assets as well as taking inventory of the country that can be brought in so we can

help people get to their work. governor christie also mentioned the importance of schools. the sooner we can get them back into school, the sooner they are in a routine, that helps the families. we are going to have a lot of work to do. i do not want anybody to feel that somehow this is going to be cleaned up over night. we want to make sure people have realistic expectations. what i can promise is the federal government will be working as closely as possible with the state and local officials and we will not quit until this is done. the directive by have given, i will repeat, i think craig and others know i mean it, we are not going to tolerate red tape, bureaucracy. i instituted a 15 minute rule. you return everybody's phone calls in 15 minutes, whether it is the mayor, county officials,

if they need something, we figure out a way to say yes. as i was gathering around, i had a chance to talk sellout -- to some of the young people who had been volunteering cleaning up debris. when we're at the community center, there was a restaurant owner who had been cooking meals, as his contribution to the recovery process. some of the folks were saying the food was better than what they got at home. you had a 15-year-old young man whose mother was disabled and he was making sure she was ok and taking on extraordinary responsibilities for herself but -- for himself but also for his mom. when you see folks like that to respond with strength and resilience, when you see neighbors helping neighbors,

you are reminded about what america is all about. we go through tough times but we bounced back. the reason is because we look out for one another. we do not leave anybody behind. my commitment to the people on this block, the people in this community, and the people of this stage, is that same spirit will carry over until our work is done. thank you very much, everybody. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> president obama returns to campaigning to nine an appearance at the university of colorado at boulder. you can watch it starting at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on c- span. >> president obama returns to campaign tonight with an appearance at the university of colorado at boulder. you can watch it at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span and c- span.org. up next, "washington journal" live with your phone calls. ronnie campaigns in -- ann from the campaigns in ohio. the flood insurance